Deuteronomy 4
Living Bible
4 “And now, O Israel, listen carefully to these laws I teach you, and obey them if you want to live and enter into and possess the land given you by the Lord God of your ancestors. 2 Do not add other laws or subtract from these; just obey them, for they are from the Lord your God. 3 You have seen what the Lord did to you at Baalpeor, where he destroyed many people for worshiping idols. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today.
5 “These are the laws for you to obey when you arrive in the land where you will live. They are from the Lord our God. He has given them to me to pass on to you. 6 If you obey them, they will give you a reputation for wisdom and intelligence. When the surrounding nations hear these laws, they will exclaim, ‘What other nation is as wise and prudent as Israel!’ 7 For what other nation, great or small, has God among them, as the Lord our God is here among us whenever we call upon him? 8 And what nation, no matter how great, has laws as fair as these I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen God doing for you. May his miracles have a deep and permanent effect upon your lives! Tell your children and your grandchildren about the glorious miracles he did. 10 Tell them especially about the day you stood before the Lord at Mount Horeb, and he told me, ‘Summon the people before me and I will instruct them, so that they will learn always to reverence me, and so that they can teach my laws to their children.’ 11 You stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; flames shot far into the sky, surrounded by black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you from the fire; you heard his words but didn’t see him. 13 He proclaimed the laws you must obey—the Ten Commandments—and wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 Yes, it was at that time that the Lord commanded me to issue the laws you must obey when you arrive in the Promised Land.
15 “But beware! You didn’t see the form of God that day as he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb, 16-17 so do not defile yourselves by trying to make a statue of God—an idol in any form, whether of a man, woman, animal, bird, 18 a small animal that runs along the ground, or a fish. 19 And do not look up into the sky to worship the sun, moon, or stars. The Lord may permit other nations to get away with this, but not you. 20 The Lord has rescued you from prison—Egypt—to be his special people, his own inheritance; this is what you are today. 21-22 But he was angry with me because of you; he vowed that I could not go over the Jordan River into the good land he has given you as your inheritance. I must die here on this side of the river. 23 Beware lest you break the contract the Lord your God has made with you! You will break it if you make any idols, for the Lord your God has utterly forbidden this. 24 He is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
25 “In the future, when your children and grandchildren are born and you have been in the land a long time, and you have defiled yourselves by making idols, and the Lord your God is very angry because of your sin, 26 heaven and earth are witnesses that you shall be quickly destroyed from the land. Soon now you will cross the Jordan River and conquer that land. But your days there will be brief; you will then be utterly destroyed. 27 For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, and you will be but few in number. 28 There, far away, you will worship idols made from wood and stone, idols that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
29 “But you will also begin to search again for Jehovah your God, and you will find him when you search for him with all your heart and soul. 30 When those bitter days have come upon you in the latter times, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you. 31 For the Lord your God is merciful—he will not abandon you nor destroy you nor forget the promises he has made to your ancestors.
32 “In all history, going back to the time when God created man upon the earth, search from one end of the heavens to the other to see if you can find anything like this: 33 An entire nation heard the voice of God speaking to it from fire, as you did, and lived! 34 Where else will you ever find another example of God’s removing a nation from its slavery by sending terrible plagues, mighty miracles, war, and terror? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your very eyes. 35 He did these things so you would realize that Jehovah is God, and that there is no one else like him. 36 He let you hear his voice instructing you from heaven, and he let you see his great pillar of fire upon the earth; you even heard his words from the center of the fire.
37 “It was because he loved your ancestors and chose to bless their descendants that he personally brought you out from Egypt with a great display of power. 38 He drove away other nations greater by far than you and gave you their land as an inheritance, as it is today. 39 This is your wonderful thought for the day: Jehovah is God both in heaven and down here upon the earth; and there is no God other than him! 40 You must obey these laws that I will tell you today, so that all will be well with you and your children, and so that you will live forever in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
41 Then Moses instructed the people of Israel to set apart three cities east of the Jordan River, 42 where anyone who accidentally killed someone could flee for safety. 43 These cities were Bezer, on the plateau in the wilderness, for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth, in Gilead, for the tribe of Gad; and Golan, in Bashan, for the tribe of Manasseh.
44-46 Listed below are the laws Moses issued to the people of Israel when they left Egypt, and as they were camped east of the Jordan River near the city of Beth-peor. (This was the land formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, whose capital was Heshbon; he and his people were destroyed by Moses and the Israelis. 47 Israel conquered his land and that of King Og of Bashan—they were two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 Israel also conquered all the area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon River Valley to Mount Sirion, or Mount Hermon, as it is sometimes called; 49 and all the Arabah east of the Jordan River over to the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Mount Pisgah.)
Deuteronomy 4
English Standard Version
Moses Commands Obedience
4 “And now, O Israel, listen to (A)the statutes and the rules[a] that I am teaching you, and do them, (B)that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 (C)You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did (D)at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 (E)Keep them and do them, for (F)that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For (G)what great nation is there that has (H)a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so (I)righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
9 (J)“Only take care, and (K)keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. (L)Make them known to your children and your children's children— 10 how on (M)the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, (N)‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, (O)so that they may learn to fear (P)me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And (Q)you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while (R)the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then (S)the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, (T)but saw no form; (U)there was only a voice. 13 (V)And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, (W)the Ten Commandments,[b] (X)and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And (Y)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
Idolatry Forbidden
15 (Z)“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since (AA)you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware (AB)lest you act corruptly (AC)by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, (AD)the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see (AE)the sun and the moon and the stars, (AF)all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and (AG)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, (AH)to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, (AI)the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; (AJ)I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of (AK)that good land. 23 (AL)Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and (AM)make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For (AN)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, (AO)a jealous God.
25 “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, (AP)and you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and (AQ)by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I (AR)call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord (AS)will scatter you among the peoples, (AT)and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And (AU)there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, (AV)that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 (AW)But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you (AX)in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is (AY)a merciful God. (AZ)He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
The Lord Alone Is God
32 “For (BA)ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 (BB)Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, (BC)by signs, by wonders, and (BD)by war, (BE)by a mighty hand and (BF)an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, (BG)that you might know that the Lord is God; (BH)there is no other besides him. 36 (BI)Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and (BJ)you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because (BK)he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them[c] and brought you out of Egypt (BL)with his own presence, by his great power, 38 (BM)driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that (BN)the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; (BO)there is no other. 40 (BP)Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, (BQ)that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Cities of Refuge
41 Then Moses (BR)set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, 42 that (BS)the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: 43 (BT)Bezer in the wilderness on the (BU)tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Introduction to the Law
44 This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan (BV)in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, (BW)whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land (BX)of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; 48 (BY)from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount (BZ)Sirion[d] (that is, (CA)Hermon), 49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as (CB)the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 4:1 Or just decrees; also verses 5, 8, 14, 45
- Deuteronomy 4:13 Hebrew the ten words
- Deuteronomy 4:37 Hebrew his offspring after him
- Deuteronomy 4:48 Syriac; Hebrew Sion
Deuteronomy 4
King James Version
4 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.
36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:
45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.
46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:
47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
